CCJ

July 2015

Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal

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26 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JULY 2015 P eterbilt's Advanced Driver Assistance System, unveiled in late May, is "the stepping stone to autonomous driving," said Bill Kahn, principal engineer. The system, a street-ca- pable GPS autopilot accurate to within 5 centimeters, was demonstrated during a Technology Showcase at Texas Motor Speedway. The truck uses a sophisticated camera system to guide and center itself within the lane. The software is capable of learning a route when lane markers are absent. While the truck can adjust its own speed, detect objects in its path and navigate itself toward its destination, Kahn said the outfi tted Model 579 test unit is far from an autonomous truck. "It still needs the capability to sense what is going on around it, to know when to change lanes, know what's going on up ahead, those type of things," he said. Still, the truck would be classifi ed as a Level 3 autonomous vehicle, in which the driver can cede control over some safety-critical functions to the truck. In a drive around the infi eld track at the Texas Speedway, Kahn was more passenger than driver. Since the track had no lane markers or prior GPS coordinates to follow, Kahn programmed the route, complete with lane changes, by taking test laps with full control of the truck. On subsequent laps, the truck followed the same path at the same speeds with little or no interaction from Kahn. Even with the system fully engaged, the driver is always in control of the vehicle, Kahn said. Without driver interaction, the truck's lane-keeping technology is capable of taking more than 80 percent of the active steering away from the driver. The driver can override the steering system at any time by sim- ply moving the steering wheel and deactivate it by using a switch. – Jason Cannon System brings Peterbilt closer to autonomous driving Tested against a 2009 baseline truck, Peter- bilt's SuperTruck yielded an 86 percent gain in freight effi ciency, which combines fuel effi ciency and payload weight. That perfor- mance easily beat the goal of 68 percent set by the U.S. Department of Energy. The truck was built in partnership with Cummins and funded partially through a DOE grant. It achieved 10.7 mpg, running with a combined gross weight of 65,000 pounds at 64 mph. The truck averaged a 75 percent increase in fuel economy and a 43 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The project has been "a terrifi c opportuni- ty for us to look into the future and demon- strate what's possible," says Landon Sproull, Peterbilt chief engineer. The Cummins-Peterbilt SuperTruck uses the truck maker's Model 579, and many of its aerodynamic improvements gave birth to Peterbilt's new Model 579 Epiq. The engine is based on a Cummins ISX15 and converts exhaust heat into power delivered to the crankshaft, while electronic control software uses routing information to optimize fuel use. The SuperTruck also includes chassis refi nements, including strategically placed frame rail holes that save roughly 3 pounds per foot of frame rail, said Ken Damon, Su- perTruck project manager at Peterbilt. Eaton helped with the design of an advanced trans- mission that facilitates reduced engine-oper- ating speeds. –Jason Cannon SuperTruck based on Model 579 surpasses goals The increase in fuel economy for the Peterbilt SuperTruck would save about $27,000 per year versus a comparable 2009 truck. Predictive cruise technology, which uses GPS to manage gear selection and engine brake use effi ciently, is part of Peterbilt's Advanced Driver Assistance System.

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